Øyh, folks!!
I just realized that in six months the development of Windows 10 will finally be completed, and we will never have to update it ever again!!! 
#NorskTut #Allheimen #TutOgKjør
#MicroSoft #Windows #Windows10 #WindowsUpdate #Update #InfoTech
#Yes #Its #Sarcasm
#PleaseStopCrying
#TGIF
ResearchFish Again
One of the things I definitely don’t miss about working in the UK university system is the dreaded Researchfish. If you’ve never heard of this bit of software, it’s intended to collect data relating to the outputs of research grants funded by the various Research Councils. That’s not an unreasonable thing to want to do, of course, but the interface is – or at least was when I last used it several years ago – extremely clunky and user-unfriendly. That meant that, once a year, along with other academics with research grants (in my case from STFC) I had to waste hours uploading bibliometric and other data by hand. A sensible system would have harvested this automatically as it is mostly available online at various locations or allowed users simply to upload their own publication list as a file; most of us keep an up-to-date list of publications for various reasons (including vanity!) anyway. Institutions also keep track of all this stuff independently. All this duplication seemed utterly pointless.
I always wondered what happened to the information I uploaded every year, which seemed to disappear without trace into the bowels of RCUK. I assume it was used for something, but mere researchers were never told to what purpose. I guess it was used to assess the performance of researchers in some way.
When I left the UK in 2018 to work full-time in Ireland, I took great pleasure in ignoring the multiple emails demanding that I do yet another Researchfish upload. The automated reminders turned into individual emails threatening that I would never again be eligible for funding if I didn’t do it, to which I eventually replied that I wouldn’t be applying for UK research grants anymore anyway. So there. Eventually the emails stopped.
Then, about three years ago, ResearchFish went from being merely pointless to downright sinister as a scandal erupted about the company that operates it (called Infotech), involving the abuse of data and the bullying of academics. I wrote about this here. It then transpired that UKRI, the umbrella organization governing the UK’s research council had been actively conniving with Infotech to target critics. An inquiry was promised but I don’t know what became of that.
Anyway, all that was a while ago and I neither longer live nor work in the UK so why mention ResearchFish again, now?
The reason is something that shocked me when I found out about it a few days ago. Researchfish is now operated by commercial publishing house Elsevier.
Words fail. I can’t be the only person to see a gigantic conflict of interest. How can a government agency allow the assessment of its research outputs to be outsourced to a company that profits hugely by the publication of those outputs? There’s a phrase in British English which I think is in fairly common usage: marking your own homework. This relates to individuals or organizations who have been given the responsibility for regulating their own products. Is very apt here.
The acquisition of Researchfish isn’t the only example of Elsevier getting its talons stuck into academia life. Elsevier also “runs” the bibliometric service Scopus which it markets as a sort of quality indicator for academic articles. I put “runs” in inverted commas because Scopus is hopelessly inaccurate and unreliable. I can certainly speak from experience on that. Nevertheless, Elsevier has managed to dupe research managers – clearly not the brightest people in the world – into thinking that Scopus is a quality product. I suppose the more you pay for something the less inclined you are to doubt its worth, because if you do find you have paid worthless junk you look like an idiot.
A few days ago I posted a piece that include this excerpt from an article in Wired:
Every industry has certain problems universally acknowledged as broken: insurance in health care, licensing in music, standardized testing in education, tipping in the restaurant business. In academia, it’s publishing. Academic publishing is dominated by for-profit giants like Elsevier and Springer. Calling their practice a form of thuggery isn’t so much an insult as an economic observation.
With the steady encroachment of the likes of Elsevier into research assessment, it is clear that as well as raking in huge profits, the thugs are now also assuming the role of the police. The academic publishing industry is a monstrous juggernaut that is doing untold damage to research and is set to do more. It has to stop.
PODCAST:
The Mad Scramble for Power: Global Superpowers’ Strategies for Energy, Economics, and War.
"If you wanna understand why the geopolitical fragmentation is going on...we're sort of in a race to the bottom to get what's left [of oil reserves in the ground]."
![The Mad Scramble for Power: Global Superpowers’ Strategies for Energy, Economics, and War
Nate Hagens, originally published by The Great Simplification
March 24, 2025
In this discussion, Nate is joined by Art Berman, Michael Every, and Izabella Kaminska for a broad exploration of the complex relationship between energy, geopolitics, and economic strategy.
Screenshot of three men and one woman in a zoom meeting.
Show Summary
The rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape of recent years can be hard to follow. With economic conflicts between global superpowers and violent clashes across multiple continents, today’s events can seem starkly different from the trajectory of past decades. So, how can a deeper understanding of energy and resource security help us make sense of these chaotic trends?
Together, the [speakers] provide valuable insights into the consequences of deindustrialization, the impact of military spending, and the urgent need to reassess strategies as resources dwindle and geopolitical tensions rise.
How is the use of fear as a political tool intertwined with the challenges of trust and disinformation in navigating turbulent international conflicts? What role is the race for Artificial General Intelligence and Quantum Computing playing in these rapidly changing situations? And ultimately, what should we, as citizens, be expecting from our leaders at the global stage as the struggle for power in the 21st century continues to intensify?](https://cdn.masto.host/urbanistssocial/media_attachments/files/114/225/212/645/094/052/original/8328eeab25c1c6c5.png "The Mad Scramble for Power: Global Superpowers’ Strategies for Energy, Economics, and War
Nate Hagens, originally published by The Great Simplification
March 24, 2025
In this discussion, Nate is joined by Art Berman, Michael Every, and Izabella Kaminska for a broad exploration of the complex relationship between energy, geopolitics, and economic strategy.
Screenshot of three men and one woman in a zoom meeting.
Show Summary
The rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape of recent years can be hard to follow. With economic conflicts between global superpowers and violent clashes across multiple continents, today’s events can seem starkly different from the trajectory of past decades. So, how can a deeper understanding of energy and resource security help us make sense of these chaotic trends?
Together, the [speakers] provide valuable insights into the consequences of deindustrialization, the impact of military spending, and the urgent need to reassess strategies as resources dwindle and geopolitical tensions rise.
How is the use of fear as a political tool intertwined with the challenges of trust and disinformation in navigating turbulent international conflicts? What role is the race for Artificial General Intelligence and Quantum Computing playing in these rapidly changing situations? And ultimately, what should we, as citizens, be expecting from our leaders at the global stage as the struggle for power in the 21st century continues to intensify?")
I don’t know if this is even a bug, or if it’s #Apple being helpful, but I am listening to music off my Linux Mint 22.1 Thinkpad T14, and when I turn my #bluetooth headset off, and then turn it back on, I have to tell #Linux to disconnect and then reconnect the bluetooth connection. Apple just gregariously re-connects all by itself, happy as ya please. It’s not a bug, because I can see how the design is supposed to be and it makes sense, but still. #FirstWorldProblems #YouPoorThing #infotech
Question for those in #IT do you code at all?
#askfedi #askfediverse #technology #askmastodon #InformationTechnology #infotech #techsupport
Don't worry, your admin and your virtualization platform aren't splitting up; it's normal to have these kinds of arguments.
As with people, the most important thing is ultimately being right.
Sokay, Moxy and I just fight it out until we compromise, which means I get what I want.
Oh happy day at #work, amusements galore! So I wrote a little somethin-somethin about the upcoming shipping and tariffs issues and my boss said he just doesn't care. Cool boss! You don't care! That actually helps me out a lot, for when the prices go up 30 to 50 percent, I'll keep this little bit here, that you don't care, and I'll look at it while you're screaming about prices. I think the best part of #FAFO is just how drastic the perspective shift is going to be. #LaughsGalore #infotech
Finished one last small project this evening. Perhaps my last until at least spring break.
It is a small page that demonstrates some of the #math behind public-private key pairs. Intended for #HighSchool (-ish) #students interested in (or forced to learn about) #InfoTech #security.
Needs some updates, and probably some clarifications. Feedback / Corrections much appreciated.
https://spackman-chris.neocities.org/simplified-public-private-key-generation
Just had a flash, a way to stymie spammers. If you could arrange behind the scenes to have your email provider *pretend* your account no longer exists. You could still access it, move mail, send mail, but all the inbound would look like it was gone. Set the interval to some time, and then when it reopens, there won’t be any spam, because your account went pooft! Anyhow, it’s amusing to consider. #infotech #email #spam #cybersecurity
Published my (simplified) Diffie-Hellman key exchange explanation and demonstration at #NeoCities.
It is aimed at #HighSchool students and shows that there is a bit more than just multiplying two large prime numbers involved in the key exchange.
If people who know more than me about this (oh, so many people!) would like to provide any corrective feedback, I'd much appreciate it.
https://spackman-chris.neocities.org/simplified-diffie-hellman
Someday someone will write computer instructions so that when the user claims that a unwanted email is spam, that it, and wait for this, because it’s totally a novelty in this universe, actually fucking works. We don’t live in that universe and this is the most intractable problem in all of Computer Science. We’re talking 30k years past quantum holographic overlays. It’s totally impossible. I doubt humanity has the capacity for it. We are just not _bright_ enough. #infotech #email #spam
A teeny object lesson in heterogeneous computing right now. My #MacBookPro is all sluggo and so I'm running #Onyx on it. So I just looked over to my handy #LinuxMint laptop and it's just as easy to switch over here while the Mac figures out it's foolishness. #infotech #today
Wonderful people of the fediverse, I am looking for more interesting content to use as background company while I work, I am in search of recommendation of youtube and peertube channels on the following topics:
#history
#education
#cybersecurity
#privacy
#Infotech
#walkablecities
#socialengineering
#engineering
TIA!
Live stateside and need help?
You CAN’T apply to Give Directly itself.
https://www.givedirectly.org/united-states
But you can FIND A LIST of programs that Give Directly does fund.
Then you can find one near you!
If you’re really desperate,
1. https://www.ecosia.org/search?method=index&q=money+help search for e.g. “money help” then add your city and state,
2 Use the mutual aid tags on here — they’re at the bottom. Check the weird text. Click the “…and 22 more” text to unhide / show all the hashtags. —
And / or
3. Ask me (a stranger online whomst’ve could steal your info and give it to that person you hate so they can sign you up for yoga classes and MLM schemes).
I’ll do a quick search for you.
Mastodon DMs are NOT secure. https://signal.org is better.
Do NOT give me or other randomers your postal address or current residence.
Biggest city near you is fine for finding local help and avoid doxxing yourself — as much. But if you are doxxed: https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/security/doxcare/
Anyway, this isn’t a lecture on OpSec.
I am kinda on the Karmic side of #infotech
If you were lazy ok with corps eating all your data because #privacy was not your concern.
Or worse, were one of those Muppets who espoused "I have nothing to hide, so I have nothing to fear" and accepted ubiquitous #surveillance from your Government without any action on your part...
...you absolutely have no leg to stand on and get all squeally about #ai #generative #llm eating all your precious doodles and unpublishable writings you blogged.
You allowed this to happen by your inaction.
Just because you were unequipped to see the consequences, you were happy to abandon us, who tried to hold the thin red line against the #dataabuse.
I looked over my shoulder, and there was no one behind us.
These things do not happen overnight and if we had strong regulatory regime, we would not be here now.
Instead the public stampeded into the cloud and big data like farm animals to slaughter.
I am kinda on the Karmic side of #infotech
If you were lazy ok with corps eating all your data because #privacy was not your concern.
Or worse, were one of those Muppets who espoused "I have nothing to hide, so I have nothing to fear" and accepted ubiquitous #surveillance from your Government without any action on your part...
...you absolutely have no leg to stand on and get all squeally about #ai #generative #llm eating all your precious doodles and unpublishable writings you blogged.
You allowed this to happen by your inaction.
Just because you were unequipped to see the consequences, you were happy to abandon us, who tried to hold the thin red line against the #dataabuse.
I looked over my shoulder, and there was no one behind us.
These things do not happen overnight and if we had strong regulatory regime, we would not be here now.
Instead the public stampeded into the cloud and big data like farm animals to slaughter.
Jfc I got a lot of mileage out of one goddamn screenshot but hey!
My b/Blind and vision-impaired or sight-loss fellows shall feast tonight!
… If any of you care about niche multi-layered terminology for humorous agenerational interconnective co-created commentary on base genuine media, surprises, commentary, and intersections of such!
You goddamn linguistic nerds!!
Ooh, I feel like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrHGbCyAqOU is structurally related.
OMG. THAT’S HOW ADHD BRAINS CONNECT IDEAS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQKGUgOfD8U
AuHD or AudHD (urgh, I hate that initialism) people connect ideas by their structural relevance (and personal ascription of importance).
And, apparently, Neurotypical, neuro default, or neuro expected people connect ideas by narrative relevance! And, frankly, also how much importance they ascribe to the narrative, topic, or relevance.
Omg I’m an edu blogger?! This is like finding out that non-binary gender was an option! Holy shit.
Had to relocate our internet fiber for some building construction. Took pains to protect the exposed 1ft of exposed fiber at the end. Enclosed in flex conduit, taped conduit to some CAT6 cable so it didn't stretch or put tension on the fiber. Still messed it up - red light of death on the ONT. Sigh...
Spam is such a mess, a part of me kicks around the notion of explicit whitelist as a potential solution. Maybe using + in the addressing part. So, username+1@provider.com for example. Just assign a number to every person you hand it out to, and then create a rule that any inbound without a + character goes to spam, and when spam shows up with numbers, you know who sold your address, and you can burn them with another rule. #email #spam #ShowerThought #today #infotech
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